Cusat engineer develops robot for underwater studies

It can also be used in water quality monitoring based on Internet of Things, military and naval operations and flood and disaster management.

RAUV, which has wireless technology with camera, uses video processing to observe and monitor subaqueous nature with less human interventions.

Kozhikode: An electronics engineer from Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) has developed a robot which has applications in underwater research and search and rescue operations.

It can also be used in water quality monitoring based on Internet of Things, military and naval operations and flood and disaster management.

P.M. Jagadees developed this demonstrable prototype of Internet of Things-enabled and remotely-operated autonomous underwater vehicle (RAUV) as part of his final-year M.Tech thesis guided by Dr. M. Rajesh, scientist of National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), Kozhikode.

RAUV, which has wireless technology with camera, uses video processing to observe and monitor subaqueous nature with less human interventions.

The major advantage of the design is that it is fully solar-powered, Internet of Things-enabled, low cost and can provide video streaming which can be accessed from anywhere in the world with the help of a laptop or smart phone.

The working of the prototype depends on the motor speed. The pressure variation in this design will not affect the module because water flows inside the frame easily so that the pressure of water inside and outside remains the same. “I developed the prototype to fulfil my dream to make an IoT-enabled underwater vehicle. A similar prototype has not been developed in India because it is a great risk to do research in this area,” said, Jagadees.

The prototype was presented at the first International Conference on Unmanned Ariel System in Geomatics 2019 organised by IIT Roorkee. Enquiries for it came from different government and private agencies, including Border Security Force, NIIT Rajasthan, Indian Flying Lab, We Robotics, Hirakud Dam Agency, Orissa etc.

“This model is hybrid and we are planning to upgrade it with more versatile features” said M.Rajesh.

Jagadees, a Red Cross volunteer, said the different Red Cross classes he attended motivated him to develop such a prototype. He is also planning to hand over a well-developed robot to the Indian Red Cross Society.